Winning Effort

The girls put forth winning efforts last night and today, although last night the team did not garner the victory, and today it did. You can play hard and lose, and not so hard and win. The coaches want the players to understand the importance (the spirit of the game) of playing hard and with focus.

Also, we want the players to understand the importance of "playing the game", using the skills we teach, like faking, to make the game 'easier'. Today, more players began incorporating some of those skills into the game, which created more opportunities.

Before the game, I asked the players, what word on a coin is the most important to us on the basketball court. The answer is TRUST. Players have to trust one another, offensively and defensively, as well as off the court, for the team to be successful. Coaches trust the players to put in the effort and the players must trust the coaches to put them in a position to be successful. Although we try to help players maximize their individual skills, we ask them often to put aside their well-being for the good of the team. We try to avoid what I've heard called "night at the opera basketball," in other words, ME-ME-ME.
___________________________________________________________________
All players are not equal in ability, athleticism, or understanding of the game. Every player on the team has equal importance and we understand that we have a basketball 'family', where everyone can have a bad day, and where everyone has feelings.

My coach used to have a saying, "you what I like about you guys?" To which we would all reply, "nothing". The truth couldn't be anything farther away, and I still stay in touch with him today, forty years since I met him.

My routine was always to wait for the official, then walk to the line, dribble three times, breathe out, and shoot. I discourage players from 'spinning' the ball before they shoot, and encourage a compact shooting motion, along with some flexing of both the knees and ankles.

We used to take turns shooting free throws in the driveway, among my daughters and me; in addition to practice, it added some pressure and responsibility to the team. We never could seem to make more than the mid-30s!